Midrash sa Mga Kawikaan 7:2: Midrash Tanchuma & Shemot Rabbah

All of the commandment that I command you today (Deuteronomy 8:1): This is what the verse stated (Proverbs 7:2), "Keep My commandments and live," since David said (Psalms 17:8), "Guard me like the apple of Your eye." Rabbi Yehudah of Sakhnin said, "There is [no piece of land fitting to plant] a fourth of a kav, which does not include nine kav of bad spirits." And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said, "And they all have a veil over their faces." How is [it possible for people to avoid injury from them]? A man walks and [an angel] goes out in front of him and says, "Move to the sides before the likeness of the Holy One, blessed be He," as it is stated (Psalms 39:7), "Man walks in an image."

The moon and the stars borrow from each other, and when the Holy One, blessed be He, wills it, they do not go forth, as it is said: Who commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars (Job 9:7). The night borrows from the sun, and the sun from the night, yet it is said: The sun and moon stand still in their habitation (Hab. 3:11). Wisdom borrows from understanding, and understanding borrows from wisdom, as it is said: Say unto wisdom: “Thou art my sister,” and call understanding thy kinswoman (Prov. 7:4). Mercy and righteousness borrow from each other, as it is said: He that followeth after righteousness and mercy (Prov. 21:21). Heaven and earth borrow from each other, as it is said: The Lord will open unto thee His good treasure the heaven (Deut. 28:12). The Torah and the commandments, likewise, borrow from each other, as is said: Keep My commandments and live (Prov. 7:2).²³The Torah is a source of life, and so too are the commandments.

Another matter, “these are the ordinances,” the punishment that is prepared for the wicked is plentiful. What is written in their regard: “He will rain burning coal upon the wicked…” (Psalms 11:6). Because they violate the mitzvot and the laws of the Torah that were given only after the commandments, their punishment is more severe than that of one who nullifies the commandments.⁸²One who sins in his relations with other people is punished more harshly than one who sins only toward God. The midrash states this regarding the verse “these are the ordinances” because the laws introduced in this passage pertain to interpersonal relations. How so? Israel nullified: “You shall not have [other gods before Me]” (Exodus 20:3), and He forgave them, as idol worship has no substance but only arouses zealotry, as it is stated: “They would arouse His zealotry with strangers” (Deuteronomy 32:16). Likewise, it is written: “They exchanged their Glory for the molded image of a bull” (Psalms 106:20). But when Israel sinned at Shitim with licentiousness, twenty-four thousand of them fell.⁸³See Numbers 25:1–9. This is analogous to a princess who flirted with a eunuch. The king became angry at her. They said to him: ‘But did she not flirt with a eunuch?’⁸⁴The eunuch is incapable of sexual relations. He said: ‘I became angry only because she accustomed herself to flirting and licentiousness.’ Likewise, the Rabbis taught: Lightheartedness and frivolity accustom a person to licentiousness. When she engaged in licentiousness, they told her father that she received twenty-four severe lashes, and he was silent. So too, what benefit did Israel receive from the worship of idols, which do not see, do not hear, and do not speak, as it is stated: “May their makers be like them” (Psalms 115:8)?⁸⁵The preceding verses say: “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of the hand of man. They have mouths but do not speak; they have eyes but do not see; they have ears but do not hear; they have noses but do not smell; they have hands but do not feel; legs, but they do not walk; they do not speak with their throats” (Psalms 115:4–7). However, for licentiousness, which is a matter of substance, they were punished. They were forgiven for idol worship, but regarding these laws and mitzvot, the Holy One blessed be He cautioned them, as it is stated: “Observe mitzvot and live” (Proverbs 7:2) and likewise, “Inscribe them on the tablet of your heart.” (Proverbs 7:3).